HANDREARING GUIDE FOR THE BEGINNER.

By Kellie Stewart

 

Reasons for handrearing.

 

 

The last reason on the list is when I tried my first step at hand rearing. Now I found myself with 4 Indian ringnecks to feed, as mum was perched at the top of the tree mentioned above. Luckily I had the basic set up and things didn’t get to stressful.

 

Your systems requirements should include the following.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This chart will give you some idea of feeding schedule for parrots of different ages.

 

                                                         

Day 1-7

1½- 2½ hourly- last feed at midnight first feed at 5- 6am

Day 7-14

2-3 hourly- last feed at 11pm first feed at 6am

Day 14-21

3-3½ hourly- last feed at 11pm first feed at 6-00am

Day 21-28

3½ hourly- last feed at 11pm first feed at 6-30am

Day 28-35

4 hourly last- feed 10-30pm first feed at 6-30am

Day 35-42

4-4½ hourly- last feed at 10pm first feed at 7am

Day 42-49

4½-5 hourly- last feed at 9-30am first feed at 7am

Day 49-56

5 hourly- last feed at 9-30am first feed at 7am

Day 56-63

5-6 hourly- last feed at 9-00am first feed at 7am

 

Please not this is just a guide. This example is the feeding schedule for a rainbow lorikeet.

 

THE GOLDEN RULES OF HANDREARING.

 

·         Keep feeding utensils and feeding area clean wash hands before feeding

 

·         Keep the chick on the right temperature for its age

 

·         Use fresh food never reheat old food from the last feed

 

·         To make it easier on the bird when feeding go with the chicks chugging motion as he eats. Wait till he starts to beg for the next spoonful, and off you go again. Feeding food to fast can sometimes choke the bub do it in his/her time.

 

·         Always use a thermometer to check the temperature of the food before feeding.

 

·         If food has been reheated in the microwave stir very well and check temp again before feeding as hot spots occur when heating food in the microwave.

 

·         Never feed if the crop has food remaining from the previous feed.

 

·         Use a reliable good quality hand rearing formula and follow the quantity instructions of water to rearing food. Hand rearing mixes get thicker when left to stand. Let the food stand for a minute after mixing and add more water if its too thick before feeding

 

·         Don’t mix chicks of different types in the same container. This was learnt by personnel experience. One rainbow lorikeet at 7 weeks of age chewed the toes legs and wing tips of three 4-week-old baby king parrots. Causing a blood bath of missing toes and injured babies.

 

·         Don’t change your hand rearing food stay on the one you started with if you have to change introduce the new food into the diet gradually over the next few days by mixing the 2 formulas together gradually until the bird has been reverted to the new mix.

 

 

Temperature guidelines for brooders in degrees Celsius

 

 

Day 1-7

34-36

Day 7-14

32-29

Day 14-21

29-28

Day 21-28

28-27

Day 28-35

27-26

Day 35-42

26-25

Day 42-49

24-23

Day 49-56

24-23

Day 56-63

Room temp 20-22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTE

Place a small container of water in the brooder set up to create humidity in the environment, if this is not done the dry heat will dehydrate your chick very quickly. You can make your own brooder if you are electrical minded or buy one. Some people have had success by using the hot water cupboard. This is all right for older birds from 6-7 weeks onwards, as long as the temperature stays reasonably consistent.

 

FAQ FACT FILE:

 

WHAT TEMPREATURE DOES THE FOOD NEED TO BE?

42-43 degrees Celsius

 

HOW DO I TELL IF MY CHICK IS COMFORTABLE WITH THE TEMPREATURE IN THE BROODER?

If your bird is panting it is to hot. If his feet and wingtips are cold then the baby is cold

 

I HAVE SEEN SMALL CONTAINERS OF WATER IN REARING BROODERS WHAT IS THAT FOR?

To create humidity in the brooder, dry heat will dehydrate the chick very quickly

 

WHY DON’T YOU FEED THE FOOD FROM THE LAST FEED?

This greatens the chance of crop problems developing.

 

WHAT IS CROP SLOW DOWN?

Crop slow down is when the crop stops passing the food through. This can happen for various reasons. Sudden change of hand rearing food, food being made to thick for the age of the bird, fungal and bacterial infections. This also can happen if you feed the food to cold or the bird is too cold.

 

WHAT DO I DO IF I GO TO FEED MY CHICK AND THERE IS STILL A GOOD AMOUNT OF FOOD LEFT IN THE CROP FROM LAST FEED?

Don’t panic… Think about it was the last feed bigger than usual did I make the food thicker. The first step is not feed any more food. Give the chick some warm boiled water with a small amount baking soda (a pinch in 2 teaspoons of water.) massage crop very very gently. This baking soda neutralizes any acid build up the water will help thin the contents of the crop so it can pass easier. Repeat in two hours time. If the crop does not appear to be empting there may be an underlining problem such as a fungal or bacterial infection. Then it would be best to seek help. (Vomiting is a good indication of a fungal or bacterial infection being present.)

*If you feed “Katies Exact” hand rearing food the chances of this happening is very rare I will say it is one of the best hand rearing food available.

 

 

WHAT IS GAS CROP?

Gas crop is a condition where the crop fills with gases like a balloon created by bacteria. This can happen with unhygienic food preparation, unclean feeding utensils, and feeding old hand rearing formula. This condition is usually fatal to young birds.

 

WHATS A GOOD AGE TO START HANDEARING A BIRD IF YOU ARE A BEGINNER?

At pinfeather stage as the first few feathers are breaking through.

 

WHAT IS A GOOD BIRD TO TRY YOUR HANDREARING SKILLS ON?

Cockatiel budgie, Indian ringneck, scaly lorikeet

 

WHY IS MY CHICK GAGGING AND IT CAN’T SEAM TO GET THE FOOD DOWN?

The bird is too cold the brooder temp needs to be increased

 

WHY IS MY CHICK VOMITING?

You have feed the chick too much or it may a fungal or bacterial infection.

 

HOW DO I TELL MY CHICK IS FULL AFTER A FEED?

The crop should be nice and rounded it should be quite noticeable that there is food in the crop it should feel spongy. Small bubbles should appear each side of the neck once you see these the chick has had enough to eat. These get harder to see as the chick gets older but by then you should have it under control. If you have feed too much the crop will feel hard. The crop is the buldge that forms in front of the chick after a feed.

 

WHAT ARE THOSE STRANGE BUBBLES ON THE BACK OF THE NECK AFTER A FEED?

They are part of the crop and appear when the chick is full.

Musks after feeding, note the 'bubbles' on the back of the neck,
this is a normal sign of a full crop.

 

FEEDING CHICKS FROM DAY ONE.

This is a general guide for a beginner, I don’t recommend a person to try their first handrearing experience on a bird so young, but as we know these things can happen.

 

·         With having chicks so young you need a very reliable heat source, one that stays at a constant temperature and can hold the heat of 35-36 degrees.

·         I feed birds this young on a small bent salt spoon other people use eyedroppers and small paintbrushes.

·         The first thing you should do when the chick hatches is clean the navel area where it has been attached to the yolk sac of the egg. You can use an Antibiotic powder (AUREOMYCIN ANTIBIOTIC POWDER) this can be applied with a cotton bud. You only have to do this once. Not cleaning this area can result in an infection. The antibiotic powder can be purchases from your vet.

·         Never attempt to aid hatching if you don’t know what you are doing.

·         Leave the chick for 12 hour after hatching before giving the first feed. The reason for this is to enable the chick to absorb the rest of the yolk that it was feeding on in the egg.

·         The first 2 feeds should consist of probotics and in lories and lorikeets glucose can be added. Then if you are using katies exact the food should consist of one part rearing food 6six part water. The feeding temperature is very important here and as noted before food should be 42 degrees.

·         For the first 4 or so days it is very important to support the chick upright in the container. Letting the head fall between the legs will in most cases causing the chick to drown as the food spills over from the crop into the lungs. I roll a piece of tissue and place it in the container so the chick tends to lean itself over it while sleeping, and I prop the chick up by placing tissue around the little fella.

·         You can leave you chick for 5-6 hours during the night if you have past the stage of the 2 probotic feeds and one food feed. Feeding for a newly hatched chick is between every 1½ -2 hourly for the first 3 days. Increasing feed times ½ hourly intervals, as the chick gets older. Let the crop empty before giving the next feed

·         Keep a good level of hygiene in all aspects of handrearing. I use antibacterial tablets used to sterilize baby’s bottles to clean my feeding equipment.

 

*Probotics are a form of electrolytes and are used to hydrate the newly hatched chick. This can be purchased from various pet shops, not all pet shops will stock this product, it would pay to locate these, before you need it along with the antibiotic powder. These a good to have on hand as they are useful first aid items for your birds in general.

 

FEEDING QUANTITIES

Feeding the right amount of food for the age of the bird is most important. Each feed should consist of a volume equivalent to 10-12% of the bird’s body weight.

 

 

 

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN TO START THE WEANING PROCESS?

The chick will start to get funny and play with the food at feed time. A good sign that a bird is ready to start to go through the weaning is if you look at the wings of the developing chick, you will find blood in the developing feather shafts and they re still partly covered in wax. Once there is no more blood in the feather shafts and no more wax surrounding the feathers, then the chick is ready to start being weaned. Some birds are difficult and weaning turns into a long process, depending on the bird. Lorikeets would be the easiest and cockatiels one of the difficult ones, from my own experiences.

 

WEANING PARROTS

Offer food at different parts of the cage or place where it is easy for the bird to see and get to. Millet spray, apples soaked vogels bread and greens are a good tempter to get the birds interest. For a while the chick may pull and nibble and not eat much at all, then all of a sudden it happens. The chicks will still beg for you to feed, keep in mind you should be still feeding them 3 times a day at this point. Once you see they are getting the idea and food is being eaten, you can lower the feeds to 2 times daily until they have got the idea to do it on their own. Weaning parrots can take from 2 weeks to 2 months depending on size. I also soak and sprout seed for the young I found it helps them to get the idea on how to hull the seeds, as they are a lot softer to eat.

 

WEANING LORIKEETS

Make food available near a perch. Lorikeets can eat for themselves from 6/7 weeks old. You still must offer warm food and at the same feed times, but lory chicks take great delight in lapping the wet mix it comes naturally to them. Watch they don’t gorge themselves and over eat. I usually start the weaning process with lorikeets at 6/7 weeks old. Honey water, apples, pears, a quickly dunked malt biscuit, dandelion and soaked bread in honey water tempts any young lorikeet to have a nibble including wet and dry mix used daily. The weaning process is the same as for a parrot. Lorikeets at 7 weeks of age will take approximately a week to wean. They learn faster if they are in a group of slightly different ages as they copy each other.

Last modified 20 December 2001.